Montgomery County has received the first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Health officials said Monday the county received 300 doses from Moderna. Of the 300 doses, 200 doses went directly to Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for their staff and 100 doses went to Montgomery County Public Health for EMS providers in the county and other healthcare providers not affiliated with the hospital. All the long-term care and assisted living facilities in the county have been paired with a national pharmacy chain to receive vaccines.

Currently, the county is in Phase 1A of the distribution plan, which includes the groups listed above. After all workers included in Phase 1A are vaccinated, the county may move to Phase 1B. Included in Phase 1B are school and childcare staff, people over 65 years of age, people with underlying health conditions, and non-healthcare essential workers. Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has indicated the next round of vaccine could arrive in January. IDPH hopes the vaccine will be available to the general public by mid-spring 2021.

Montgomery County Public Health and Montgomery County Memorial Hospital encourage anyone with questions regarding the vaccine to call Montgomery County Public Health at 712-623-4893.

An Iowa National Guard sniper team recently competed against 23 other National Guard teams and 12 inter-service teams at the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, Dec. 4-10, at Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Barling, Arkansas. Spc. Aaron McAndrews, of Grimes, and Cpl. Kyle Thies, of Clarinda, are both infantrymen with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment. They scored a combined total of 504 points. Their accomplishments led them to receive the prestigious Chief’s 50 Marksmanship Badge.

(Far right) Col. Andy Bussell, Commander of the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center presented awards to Spc. Aaron M. McAndrews (Center) and Cpl. Kyle R. Thies (left) during the awards ceremony for the 2020 50th annual Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship and the 30th Annual Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting from Dec. 4-10, 2020, at Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Barling, Arkansas. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Israel Sanchez)

The Iowa team placed third overall in the combined competition, second in the National Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship and first in the Silent Hunter team category. This was the first year that McAndrews and Thies competed in this national event.

The competition consists of shooting, fieldcraft, and sniper related tasks such as call for fire. Teams were challenged by running or rucking short distances, shooting with one arm tied behind their back, and were required to make positive identification on a target within close proximity to other team’s targets.

In one event, teams were required to approach their target without being detected. The Iowa team was one of the few sniper teams that were able to avoid detection. The competition was designed to facilitate, evaluate and test the development of training programs among snipers of all services. Basic marksmanship is an important skill set for military service members.

Sgt. Major Jason Nelson, the senior training non-commissioned officer said “Competitions are a great training event to test our skills. It’s about readiness and each Soldier being fully able to employ his or her weapon when it matters.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A man from Pottawattamie County was sentenced last week on a drug charge in Council Bluffs U-S District Court. 48-year old James Michael Willett, Sr., of Council Bluffs, was sentenced Dec. 15th to 135 months (11 1/4 years) in prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Willett was ordered to serve ten years of supervised
release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
He pled guilty to the offense on August 04, 2020.

The Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force opened an investigation on Willett and other co-conspirators for distributing methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs metro area in 2019. On November 5, 2019, staff at a hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, contacted law enforcement after an employee observed drugs in a room where Willet had been staying. Law enforcement searched the room and located methamphetamine, fentanyl, and marijuana.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Omaha Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports six arrests occurred between November 14^th and December 17^th.  Most recently, on Dec. 17th. 35-year old Payton Thomas Watzke, of Audubon, was arrested for Theft 5^th Degree. Watzke appeared before a magistrate and pled guilty.

• On Dec. 9th: 65-year old Rickie Don Bohlmann, of Audubon, was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order. Bohlmann later posted bond and was released.
• On Dec. 8th 55-year old Tauna Jean Bohlmann, of Audubon, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bohlmann posted bond and was released.
• On Dec. 7th, 35-year old Shawn Leroy Schmidt, of Audubon, was arrested by Audubon Police for Driving Under Suspension. Schmidt was released on a promise to appear.
• On Nov. 18th, 47-year old Christopher Michael Green, of Audubon, was arrested for Driving While Barred. Green was transported to the Audubon County Jail to appear before a magistrate.
• And, on Nov. 14th, 28-year old Lacey Lynn Kron, of Audubon, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. She was released on a promise to appear.

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an accident in Griswold, last week. A collision between a 2007 Jeep Patriot and a 2004 Chevy Monte Carlo happened at around 1:48-p.m. December 14th, at the intersection of Adair and Main Streets in Griswold.

Officials says the Jeep, owned and driven by 37-year old Megan Christine Bates, of Griswold, was westbound on Main Street, when it was struck by the northbound Monte Carlo, driven by 17-year old Adam Geoffrey Houser, of Henderson.

No injuries were reported. Houser was cited for Failure to Obey Stop Sign and Yield Right of Way. Damage to the Jeep was estimated at $4,500; damage to the Chevy is estimated at $2,500.

(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters predict the skies over Iowa will be mostly free of clouds tonight (Monday) and we should have a clear view of what’s known as a planetary conjunction. From Earth’s vantage point, Jupiter will pass very close to Saturn and may form what will appear to be a single shining star. Sundown is at 4:48 this afternoon and astronomer Sebastian Zamfir says the show will start not long afterward in the southwest. “If we are patient, we’ll see that in about maybe 20 minutes, half an hour, it gets dark enough for the two planets to become visible,” Zamfir says. “They will stand out because they are very bright.”

The Earth is some 550 million miles from Jupiter, while Saturn is another 450 million miles beyond Jupiter, so Saturn will be much fainter as the planets approach conjunction. Some are referring to this as the reappearance of the “Christmas Star” and Zamfir says astronomers have tracked these events back millennia. “Some of the good candidates, as natural phenomena that would be related to The Star of Bethlehem were this kind of conjunctions, planetary conjunctions,” she says. The last time this particular conjunction happened this brightly at night was over 800 years ago, though Jupiter and Saturn cross paths — from the Earthly point of view — about every 20 years.

Zamfir says conjunctions like this are thought to be the source of the Biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem connected with the birth of Jesus.  “An even more spectacular one in terms of brightness happened in 2 BC,” Zamfir says, “and that one was between Jupiter and Venus.” With a good set of binoculars or a telescope, it’s possible you’ll be able to see some of Jupiter’s moons or even Saturn’s rings. Of course, neither Jupiter nor Saturn are generating light, as a star does. What we’re seeing is light from the sun reflecting off those planets.